Improvement in the method of footing stockings



B. IF. PEASLEE.

improvement in the Method of' Footing Stockingslv i N0. 130,149, Patented Aug. 6,1872.

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UNITED STATES PATENTl OFFICE.

BENJAMIN F. PEASLEE, 0F LAKE VILLAGE, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE METHOD OF FOOTING STOCKINGS.V

Specification forming part of Letters Patent ANo. 130,149, dated August 6, 1872.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. PEAsLEE, of Lake Village, in the county of Belknap and State of New Hampshire, have invented an Improvement in Footing Stockings and Hose; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawing making part of this speciflcation- Figure l being a top view of a circular plain knitting-machine adapted to the purpose of knitting hosiery; Fig. 2, a view of a pair of stockings as footed on the machine, the feet being cut apart on one side.

Like letters designate corresponding parts in both figures. Previous to my invention stockings have been footed on straight knitting-looms, two or more at a time 5 also, to some extent,they have been footed on circular machines-one only at once; but, as the foot is knit of only one-half of the whole width or circumference of the leg, it required a very small machine for the purpose, and the operation was comparatively slow and expensive.

My invention consists in a method of footing two or more stockings together in a circular knitting-machine.

Thus, in the drawing, Fig. 1 represents an ordinary circular plain knitting-machine of the size required to knit the legs ofthe stockings to be footed, and, consequently, just large enough to foot two stockings at once. To adapt it to this use the only change in construction is to leave out, on opposite sides, two needles, respectively, as at a a. This omission makes open lines, b b, o f work where a stitch `is dropped or left out at each round, so that there are merely cross-lines of yarn, as shown. When the feet have been knit on, all that it is necessary to do is to cut them apart along these lines b b, as indicated at the outer edges in Fig. 2, thus unravelin g no stitches and insuring accuracy and certainty in the lines of out.

Instead of a machine large enough only to foot two stockings each time, the machine may be large enough to foot any larger number. I make machines for footing five or six stockings at once, thereby enlarging the capacity as well as speed and economy thereof. The needles are omitted between all of the adjacent stockings, whatever the number footed at once on the machine.

This is a very expeditious and economical method of footing stockings. n

These machines are thus arranged for the sole purpose of footing stockings. The legs are knit on other machines, and then are transferred to the footing-machine, one-half of the stitches only of each of the several legs to be footed being looped upon an equal number of needles thereof, so that all the needles of the machine are occupied thus by the number of legs to be footed at once thereon. Then, as soon as sufficient length of web has been knit to make thefeet of the stockings, they are cut 0E and another set of legs is looped on, as before.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The method, substantially as herein described, of footing two or more stockings at once on a circular knitting-machine constructed for the purpose, as specified.

Specification signed by me this 19th day of February, 1872.

BENJ. F. PEASLEE.

Witnesses:

C. P. S. WARDWELL, S. C. CLARK. 

